RIN DETERGENTTO POSITION OR RE-POSITION

COMPANY

Lever Brothers Pakistan Limited (Levers), a subsidiary of Lever Brothers International

Produced and marketed consumer products in Pakistan Product line consisted of shampoos, creams, edible oils, margarine,

laundry detergents in powder and solid bars, etc In 1988, Levers had PBT of Rs 277 million on sales of Rs 3.65 billion

MARKET

Total fabric wash sales of 263,050 tonnes 247,000 tonnes of laundry soap 14,500 tonnes of NSD powder 1550 tonnes of NSD bar

Lever had no entry in laundry soap segment; two Lever NSD brands had 50% of NSD powder market

Total dishwash sales of 60,000 tonnes; 88% hard soaps and 12% bars No product of Lever in dish washing market

RIN

Solid blue NSD bar introduced in 1984 Priced at Rs 2.95 per pack size of 130 grams Rs 5.7 million spent on introductory advertising and promotion “A little amount of RIN washes a large lot of clothes” was the key phrase

in the commercial Disappointing sales in first three years None of the consumer promotion schemes were successful Several price-off campaigns were launched in 1984 and 1985 The results were still very much below the expected level

RE-LAUNCH

125 grams and 250 grams package size was introduced Production efficiencies reduced variable cost of RIN by Rs 1/kg Promotional efforts concentrated on advertising and sales discounts A new media campaign was launched with a well known movie star; RIN

endorsed as superior fabric washing product than laundry soaps Re-launch was successful, sales > 1000 tonnes in 1987 Prices were raised in April 1987, and again in August 1988

COMPANY’S DILEMMA

There was a suspicion in management that RIN is being used as a dish washer Survey was conducted in 12 cities; to know consumer perception and usage

of RIN 65% people were using RIN for dish washing; 75%-80% sales of RIN was for

dish washing purpose Blue color of soap bars resulted in confusion, as all the dish washing bars

introduced in Pakistan were blue in color; also retailers shelved RIN separate rather than in laundry soap section

PBT IN 1988 was Rs 2.5 million Management thinking of actions to take regarding marketing plan for RIN

POSITIONING & RE-POSITIONING

Positioning is a marketing concept relating to a process of creating an image of the product in the minds of the consumer or in other words create a niche market for itself

Repositioning is changing the position of the product in the market/consumer’s mind

MARKETING ALTERNATIVES

ACTUAL DECISION BY UNILEVER (PAK)

Since RIN worldwide was used as a fabric washer, usage of RIN as dish washer was affecting the brand image

Lever decided to abandon the sale and production of RIN in Pakistan VIM, a dishwashing bar, was launched which was blue in color After VIM’s success, Lever re-launched RIN in Pakistan as a fabric washing

product

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